The Russians are coming
by TyphoonSignal10
Summary: When Oda Nobunaga becomes a warmongering menace that threatens the peace of the world, the Roman empire is quick to declare war. The Arabian empire is more cautious and enlists the aid of the technologically brutal Russian forces. Japan is prepared for swords, muskets and cannons. Instead they will face modern armour, battleships and rocket artillery.
1. Arabia

**A/N: This fic is loosely based off an in-game war that happened about a week ago. I started thinking about what happens when another empire approaches you to declare war on another empire together, and I started wondering how the troops of your allies would react when your empire is vastly technologically superior.**

**The empires in this are:**

**Russia (Player) - modern era. (Mechanised Infantry, Modern Armour, Rocket Artillery, Stealth Bomber.)**

**Rome - medieval era. (Pikemen, Knights, Trebuchet, Longswordman) **

**Arabia - renaissance era. (Musketman, Lancer, Cannon, Cavalry)**

**Japan - classical/medieval era. (Samurai, Pikeman, Archer, Catapult)**

**This first chapter of two depicts a naval attack on the Japanese empire.**

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Abdul-Azim was pacing in his cabin aboard the Seaspear. Beyond the horizon ahead of him lay the Japanese empire. Ruled by Oda Nobunaga, the Japanese had long been enemies of the great Arabian Empire, led by the merciful Harun al-Rashid, blessed of Allah, long may he live, may the grounds tremble beneath his feet, and may his enemies cower before him, but now, now the Caliph's mercy towards the warmongering Japanese had run out. Now the war drums of Mecca beat again, their heavy rhythm inspiring courage in the hearts of the Arabians, and instilling fear in the minds of those for whom they beat. All of this should have encouraged Abul, but these great thoughts were far outweighed by doubt.

He had received a hawk from his commanding officers to the east saying that the Caliph had wanted to extinguish the foul light of the Japanese from the world that Allah had made, and to this end he sought out the help of one of the other great empires of the world. Abdul would have been more than happy if the empire they had approached had been Rome, he had dealt with and fought alongside Romans before now and had enjoyed the camaraderie that he had experienced, but no, Caliph Harun had approached the Russians, under their empress Catherine the Great. Abdul doubted their resolve, after all, it was well known that women were flighty creatures, most unsuited to rulership, and prone to change their minds over the smallest things.

The Russians' leadership alone was not enough to instill such fear in him, no, that came from the legends of Russia. The great empire was greatly distanced from Arabia, and had very few dealings with the great nation, Harun al-Rashid, he who speaks the truth of Allah, who holds the fate of the world in his hands, was deeply suspicious of the foreign power, with whom they shared no borders, no beliefs, nothing in common beyond the enemy of Japan. Abdul had often heard Russia likened to a sleeping lion, calm and peaceful now, but should it ever wake, he who had had the misfortune of doing so would know fear the likes of which were unknown. Russia's borders lay closed to Arabia, so all they knew of the empire was the view of the coasts that their sailors had seen and the rumours that those sailors had started. It was said that the Russians rode great beasts of metal that spat smoke and fire into war, that they had a great wall that encompassed their capital, and next two largest cities. It was said that their soldiers commanded powers akin to that of the Allah - or of demons. It was said that they could _fly_.

Abdul sighed and exited his cabin, troubled thoughts still swirling in his mind, soon they would reach Japanese waters and join up with the Russians and begin the war against the enemy. He stood at the prow of his frigate and stared out at the view before him. To the north-west sat the city of Tokyo, his and his Arabian comrades' target, he had been assured that once his naval fleet had softened up the city, ground troops would be poised to sweep away the remaining Japanese resistance. His gaze swept southwards encompassing two grey rocks jutting out of the bay, their tops wreathed in clouds, the tiny white specks that were the sails of the Japanese Navy arrayed beyond them, then he found Kyoto, Japan's capital, directly opposite Tokyo, the seat of power of the hated Oda Nobunaga. Of the promised Russian forces, he saw no sign, he theorised that perhaps they were land-based, for surely the great Russian beasts of metal that spat fire would be of little effect on sea, if they truly existed.

"Sir! Sir!" He turned towards the rest of his ship as his musings were disrupted by the shouts of his lookout.

"What is it?" he snapped at the scrambling figure that approached him, telescope in hand.

"Sir, it's the Russians." The boy was breathless. Snatching the offered telescope, Abdul looked down the eyepiece for signs of the Russians. He scanned the horizon fruitlessly before a flash of colour caught his eye, the black and yellow double-headed eagle of the Russian empire snapped in the wind. As he drew back slightly he realised the reason for the lookout's urgency, the Russian flag flew from the two rocks in the mouth of the bay. Rocks, he now realised, that were in fact ships, great grey ships covered with scurrying people.

"Jahannam." He swore under his breath, the rumours were true! But rumours alone did not hold up to the truth. Great, grey, things of war, ridden by the Russian people. This was what his great leader had enlisted in their war against the Japanese? He swore again, and gave the command to pull the fleet up alongside the Russian warships.

As they pulled alongside, Abdul was hailed by a crewman atop the Russian vessels, the man spoke Arabic slowly, with a thick accent and terrible pronunciation, but he was understandable. Abdul was grateful to the Russians for making this small bit understandable, for so little else was. The vessels were indeed made of metal, but how? How could something as heavy as metal float? He opened his mouth to ask the Russian this, but instead all he could say was,

"Does this thing really spit fire?"

The Russian sailor laughed, "Fire, death and metal my friend. You are Captain?" When Abdul nodded his assent the Russian beckoned to him to 'come aboard' and threw down a rope ladder to the lower slung vessel. Abdul nervously climbed aboard and followed the sailor, who introduced himself as 'Boris'. Boris seemed very talkative, despite his clumsy grasp of the Arab language, and seemed to want to know everything about Arabia. Abdul had never considered that Arabia might same as strange and exotic to the Russians as Russia did to the Arabs. He followed Boris through a strange metal door and was greeted by row upon row of flashing lights, men and women moving about behind them. He heard Boris speaking in Russian to someone, from the tone employed most likely a superior.

"Abdul, this Commandant Dunya Zolnerowich, she leads naval force."

Abdul nodded weakly, a woman in charge made about as much sense as anything else he had seen on board this ship, if it truly could be called such. Boris continued, "She says we ready when you are, to start hostilities." Abdul nodded again, it seemed like that was all he could do. Besides, it was not as though his ships were needed, these Russian behemoths could probably obliterate Tokyo by themselves.

"We wait for a signal from Arabic ground troops." He said, "Green rockets from north-east of Tokyo."

Boris and Dunya nodded, "Understood," Boris said, "we await rockets, then we destroy Japanese Navy. Good Luck." He offered a big, meaty hand, which Abdul shook tentatively. Boris then escorted him back to his ship and told him to watch the Japanese Navy when the rockets went off, apparently it would be entertaining.

It was late evening when Abdul's lookouts spotted the green rocket explosions in the east and raised anchors as they began to move towards the Japanese fleet. It seemed that the Russians too had seen the flares, for their vast metal machines roared into action. Abdul saw Boris waving at him, then pointing ahead of the vessels. Abdul followed the pointing finger and watched as three of the Japanese triremes suddenly exploded in immense waterspouts. He had not seen any projectiles launched from the decks of the Russian warships, but the Japanese ships could not have destroyed themselves, so what had? The answer to this question came quickly in the form of a large, dark-grey tube emerging from beneath the waters. Great torrents of water cascaded over its bulk, partially obscuring the yellow and black eagle painted on the odd protrusion towards the front. It seemed as though the Russians had tamed even the deeps with their machines. As he watched the new vessel, loud explosions and flashes of light drew his attention back to the Russian warships and their Japanese targets. He watched as more of the Japanese fleet arrayed across the mouth of the bay exploded into clouds of splinters. Once the Russians had finished their bombardment, Abdul ordered his fleet forward to take care of any survivors. Behind him, the machine-from-under-the-waves returned beneath said waves, and the Russian guns turned upon the city of Tokyo.

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**A/N: Please leave a review telling me what you liked or didn't like about the story and anything that could be improved. This will be much appreciated.**


	2. Rome

**A/N: This second chapter of two shows the ground assault on what remains of the Japanese empire. Remember to please leave a review telling me what you liked or didn't like and what could be improved. Thank you.**

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Julius was concerned, so far their war against the Japanese had been raging for years, they had barely lost any men, but the they had barely gained any ground either. The emperor was all for pushing forward and destroying the Japanese, but the support of the senate and the people for the war was waning, to them it was becoming just a place to send their children to die for no gain. The Japanese empire seemed to have an almost inexhaustible supply of men and women willing to die for their leader, willing to be thrown against the pikes and shields of the Roman army. This was not why he was concerned however.

As commander of the southern forces, he was privy to intelligence reports from around the empire, and occasionally beyond. These reports were deeply concerning. Roman spies in the Japanese empire reported that an Arabian-Russian naval coalition had obliterated the Japanese navy, paving the way for the Arabian conquest of Tokyo. The Japanese were allegedly raising armies inland of Kyoto, beyond the range of the Russian warships, armies of samurai and bowmen, of pikes and armoured knights.

The reports from back west were not much better, rioting in some of the smaller cities as their resources were diverted to the war effort, barbarian attacks in the North tying up troops that could more effectively used in the east, and apparently the Russians had approached the senate for the first time in centuries to ask permission to move their troops through the empires borders. The senate had allowed them this on the basis that the Russian could probably march straight across the Roman Empire, obliterating everything in their way if even half the rumours were true. Already, metal Russian beasts had been seen on the imperial roads.

Julius shivered at the thought that the great beasts of destruction could possibly be driving through his city even now, passing within metres of his home, knowing that there would be nothing that the guards could do should the Russians decided to drive _through_ his home, rather than past it.

"Sir, sir!" A shouting soldier drew him out of his tent.  
"What is it?" He demanded, "You'd better have a damn good reason for dragging me out here boy."

"Sir, it's the Russians, they've been sighted on the other side of demon's pass."

"What? Impossible! The Japanese have that pass sealed up tighter than a senator's coin purse."

"I'm just telling you what I've been told sir, according to the forward scouts the fort at the pass now bears the Russian arms."

Julius swore under his breath, it seemed as though the Russians truly were capable of great sorcery with their 'machines'.

Late the next day, when the Roman column reached the demon's pass, Julius saw that his scout had indeed spoken true, the wall-fort that spanned the entire width of demon's pass flew the yellow and black banner of the Russian empire. As they drew nearer, they saw a series of metal boxes arrayed on the ground around the fort. It seemed that whatever sorcery the Russians had employed to create these things also made them confident enough to allow the Roman army to approach unchallenged.

Julius drew his man to a halt at what he considered to be a respectable distance from the Russians and began to prepare a message for his Russian equivalent. He dressed himself in what little ceremonial finery he had brought with him and set out to meet with the leader of the Russian forces. As he approached the Russian machines, a hatch on the top of one opened up, and a man clad in the grey greatcoat of the Russian forces, decorated with the gold braid of an officer clambered out and advanced across the ground towards him. The man hailed Julius in broken Latin, and Julius replied in equally broken Russian. Julius explained to the man that he simply wished to move his troops through the pass, towards Kyoto and Osaka. The Russian nodded and claimed that his men would not be staying in the fort for much longer, they were merely waiting on some slower moving siege units that, unfortunately, could not cover ground as effectively as his 'modern armour' could. The man turned towards the fort and bellowed a command in Russian, apparently a command to open the gates, as the winches creaked into action, raising the great iron portcullis of the Japanese, allowing the roman column to advance through the pass, into the plains beyond.

The other side of the fort also held Russian forces arrayed outside it, but here, the ground was decorated with shattered Japanese flagpoles and armour, the remains of a large pyre smouldered to Julius' right, apparently burning the remains of the Japanese that had given their lives in a futile attempt to fend off the Russian advance. Julius was suddenly very glad that Rome and Russia had not gone to war in millennia, and that the Russians seemed quite content to wage war upon the Japanese and to ignore the Romans.

Three days later, Julius stood on the plains between Osaka and the Japanese capital Kyoto. To the west, lay the forbidding city of Osaka, atop its rise in the plains, Roman and Japanese soldiers spread out beneath the gaze of its watchtower. To the east, Russian machines of war tore up the ground beneath them as they advanced upon the crippled city of Kyoto. The Russian siege engines had arrived at demon's pass less than a day behind Julius and had joined up with the Russian 'modern armour' to bring war to Kyoto. Russian warships in the bay, no longer needed to obliterate the Japanese navy, or put pressure upon Tokyo, sat just outside the range of Kyoto's defence mechanisms, raining metal, fire and death down upon the defenders. The Russian siege engines did much the same, rolling around the battlefield, always one step ahead of the remaining Japanese foot soldiers, assaulting the Japanese walls with an alarming regularity. On the rare occasion that the Japanese came near to a siege engine, 'modern armour' units would quickly encircle the Japanese troops and annihilate them in a roar of smoke and metal.

Oda Nobunaga had apparently fled Kyoto to a newly-founded city named Satsuma to the south. If he sought safety there however, he would be sorely disappointed, neither Japan nor Rome nor Arabia, had predicted Russia's alliance with the nearby city-state of Vienna, or the Russian tendency to offload their surplus Naval vessels onto their allies. Russian-built, Viennese-crewed destroyers had completely obliterated the new Japanese navy shortly after it left the harbour in an attempt to assist Kyoto. Roman naval units had moved in to mop up the mess and disgorge troops onto the land surrounding the city.

For their part, the Roman empire had forged an alliance with Lhasa, whose troops were drawing the attention of the defenders of Osaka to the west, away from the fast-moving Russian troops. The roaring sound that accompanied a Russian siege barrage drew Julius' attention back towards Kyoto just in time to see a large section of the city's curtain wall collapse under the Russian assault, as Russian frontline units rolled forward into the city. Shortly afterwards, yellow and black rockets soared into the sky, indicating the Russian conquest of the Japanese capital .Banners across the city bearing the red and white flower of Japan were being replaced by those bearing the black and yellow eagle of Russia. Julius turned away from the smoking city as columns of Russian tanks poured in to secure the city. He commanded his troops to turn their attention towards Osaka, to claim a part of the dying empire for the glory of Rome.


End file.
